Venezuela VP: contacts with US diplomats distorted

Last Modified: Thursday, January 03, 2013 8:03 PM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice
president on Thursday suggested that reports about recent contacts
between U.S.
and Venezuelan diplomats were distorted in implying the
conversations were initial efforts toward improving relations if
President
Hugo Chavez dies. He said Chavez authorized the conversations.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro spoke on television upon his return from Cuba, where he and other officials met with the ailing
president more than three weeks after he underwent cancer surgery.

"In these days, we've seen how there have
been attempts to distort an event that was simply sought to be carried
out with
the authorization of the president" in late November and early
December, Maduro said. "And it has to do with the relationship
with the government of the United States."

"Some articles have come out that have tried to manipulate a group of elements," Maduro said, without giving details.

Some recent news stories have raised questions about whether contacts between U.S. and Venezuelan diplomats could potentially
lead to an improvement in long-strained relations if Chavez's health continued to worsen.

"We know that all of these manipulations are
being handled from the United States. They believe their time has come,
and they've
entered into a sort of mad hour, (an) offensive by the far-right
here and internationally," Maduro said. "Well, here is our
nation planted very firmly, very clear."

Maduro spoke a day after a U.S. government
official confirmed that American and Venezuelan diplomats recently held
high-level
conversations aimed at improving relations. The U.S. official
spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because
he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The official confirmed reports that Roberta
Jacobson, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs,
spoke by
telephone with Maduro in November and discussed ways of improving
relations. He also confirmed that U.S. diplomat Kevin Whitaker
had a subsequent conversation with Roy Chaderton, Venezuela's
ambassador to the Organization of American States.

Maduro did not refer specifically to any particular contacts between diplomats.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said earlier Thursday that the U.S. government is seeking a more productive
relationship with Venezuela and is open to dialogue.

"Obviously we talk to Venezuelans from
across the political spectrum, as we do with countries around the world.
But any political
transition that takes place in Venezuela has to be the product of
decisions that are made by Venezuelans," Nuland told reporters
in Washington.

"We do not believe that there is a made-in-America solution for Venezuela's transition," Nuland added. "That is the message
that we are giving to Venezuelans of all stripes, that we want to see any transition be democratic, be constitutional, be
open, be transparent, be legal within Venezuela, and that it has to be decided by Venezuelans."

Venezuela's opposition has demanded more
details about Chavez's condition. The president has not spoken publicly
since his
Dec. 11 operation, and his government has recently described the
president's condition as "delicate" after he suffered complications
due to a respiratory infection.

Nuland said that American officials have no way to evaluate what is being said about Chavez's condition, "but we have seen
concern within Venezuela that the government's not being transparent."

Chavez has had a rocky relationship with Washington for years, though the United States remains the top buyer of oil from
Venezuela.

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been without
an ambassador since July 2010. Chavez rejected the U.S. nominee for
ambassador,
accusing him of making disrespectful remarks about Venezuela's
government. That led Washington to revoke the visa of the Venezuelan
ambassador.

U.S. officials have for years criticized
Venezuela's efforts against drug trafficking as inadequate, and have
expressed hope
of greater cooperation. Chavez has accused the U.S. government of
manipulating the drug issue for political purposes to discredit
his government.